Frosting Silver
by Varkrow
Summary: Basically Frozen but with Gintama characters. I was a fool and started this after the school year has already started, so I don't actually have an update schedule planned.
1. Prologue

**I don't know, this came pretty much out of nowhere when I was singing/slurring out Let It Go in the shower. Maybe my voice just made me think of Gintoki and all of a sudden I'm doing something as stupid as this? Who knows. But I plotted out most scenes and already casted each character, so why not, right?**

 **I guess it's a bit hard to completely mess up with Gintama, but oh gosh, I hope my horrible story layout skills doesn't screw this destined hellhole up.**

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse-

"Gin-chan!"

"Gin-san!"

... Never mind.

Seventeen year old Sakata Gintoki was woken up by two mini demons before this author could even finish his attempt at making this a peaceful start of a ridiculous crossover fanfiction. One was a female with hair so red, you could clearly tell she was the devil, and the other was a human-wearing glasses, or at least half of that right now. Those damned brats.

"Play with us, Gin-chan!"

"Ugh, go away... brats..." muttered the lazy ass semi-main character. I don't know where else to fit it after this, so I'll just say that the redhead is an eight year old Kagura and the boring looking kid is a ten year old Shitpanchi- Shinpachi but without the Shimura because that was a nerdy last name put in by the manga's author and I like just using Sakata anyway.

So anyways, Shinpachi and Kagura shut their mouths for, like, two moments to whisper to each other.

"Pasta, it seems as though we may need to take desperate measures," Kagura whispered, but not at all in a quiet fashion.

"Indeed, Yama-san. I'll ready the countdown," Shinpachi muttered, before they got into creeping positions.

"3..."

"2..."

"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!"

Gintoki shot up, wide awake now, with his arms in defensive mode facing the two that were clearly trying to pounce on him.

"You crappy dillidaisies! Fine, damn it! I'll play with you!" He threw off his covers and walked out, with a cheering Kagura following after him, leaving a lone Shinpachi to stare at the door almost dramatically.

"... Dillidaisies?"

_

Gintoki and Kagura came to a stop in the large ballroom of their (did I forget to mention they're royalty here?) palace.

"Okay, so while we wait for Shinpachi to finish his half-assed attempt of trying to be the straight man (even though he's not much better than you in being a little shit), I guess we could try making a snow person or something," Gintoki said. Kagura frowned.

"But I wan'ed you to make me egg over rice, aru!" She whined/groaned.

"... I damn well hope you didn't wake specifically _me_ up just to cook you food at 1:30 when we have chefs here," Gintoki deadpanned.

Before Kagura could respond, Shinpachi saved her by choosing to burst in at that moment.

"You jerks! You didn't start before I got here, right?" He panted, obviously out of breath. Gintoki raised an eyebrow at him.

"The rice cooker isn't even on, brat," he said.

"What?" Shinpachi shook his head, "Whatever. When are you going to do the magic thing, Gin-san?"

"Oi, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to keep using -san all the time, even if it is fitting for you." Gintoki pitched his voice an octave higher, making himself sound silly, "Thank you thank you. Oh dear goodness, thank you." Then back to normal, "You know you don't have to be like that when you're rich, right? Rich people like us are supposed to be snobby."

"Dang it, okay! But... I don't really know what else to call you right now, just Gin sounds weird... Can you just start now?" Shinpachi huffed.

"Yeah, Gin-chan! My head's seriously going to explode from boredom if you keep being a huge baby over stuff!" Kagura added while munching on a piece of that sour snack of hers that appeared out of nowhere.

"Sheesh, fine, you little brats. No need to be all tough on poor Gin."

Gintoki raised his hands in front of the two now seated children and made rolling motions. In between his hands, a silver blue light shimmered, before bursting up and popping like a bubble, turning into light snowflakes that fell around them.

Shinpachi and Kagura stared up in amazement, and the latter jumped up and ran around.

"Yay! We don't even need to wait for winter, Shinpachi! Our boy Gin-kou is all we need!" Kagura continued prancing around, ignoring Gintoki's, "I take care of you more than the other way around, brat. And what the hell does Gin-kou even mean?!" and continued skating with her slippers.

"Hey, Gin-sa- Gin-kou! Will you help me make a snowman?" Shinpachi called from behind, patting down the base.

"You too, Pattsuan?! Uy, fine. But is this really something you could consider a snowman? It looks more like a snow demon. In fact..." A head made from snow with a shockingly detailed dog's face was placed onto the equally as detailed dog body.

"Perfect."

"What should we name him, Gin-kou?"

"Dunno, Pattsuan. Maybe something stupid and dog-ish like Kagura's Sadaharu, or something."

"Sadaharu isn't stupid!"

"... Dog-ish isn't a word, Gin-kou."

"Hey, Shinpachi try this! It's totally cool, aru!" Kagura swooped by and dragged Shinpachi by the hand to a hill of snow. There, she climbed up and slid down with him.

"Isn't that fun, Pachi?" Kagura innocently turned around to where Shinpachi _should've_ been sitting up and agreeing with her, but was instead with his face inches buried in the snow due to the fact that Kagura hadn't released his hand from her own iron grip.

"Oh."

Suddenly sitting up and spitting out snow, Shinpachi sighed.

"Kagura-chan, you were supposed to let go of my hand before sliding, you know."

"Oops."

But before Shinpachi could try figuring out whether that could be considered an apology or not, Kagura's attention shifted again and she dragged him to a high point of snow.

"Hey, Pachi! This should be funner for you!" She said, already running up on it.

"Kagura-chan, you _know_ funner isn't a wor- **KAGURA-CHAN!!"**

It's cliché, but it almost felt as though it all happened in slow motion. Kagura had leapt off the snow hill with Shinpachi, Shinpachi's shout had gotten Gintoki's attention, who had been moving the snow fool's arm to make it pick its nose, Gintoki had ran towards them while yelling in alarm and reached his hand out to them... and then cold... before black...

_

"Shinpachi! Kagura!"

Gintoki watched in horror as silver had blasted out of his hand in his hurry to get to them, and stared hopelessly as it struck Kagura's head before ricocheting into Shinpachi's eyes, and his breath stopped as they fell to the ground, motionless.

The shouts had apparently woken up the other occupants of the palace too, for two people barged into the ballroom with alert. Those people were a teenaged girl with a brown ponytail, Otae, and a balding older man, Umibouzu.

"Gin-san, what did you do?!" Otae shouted worriedly once she saw the two younger children unconscious and being hugged tightly to Gintoki who was desperately trying to believe it would save them.

"I... I didn't- I didn't..." Seeing how his voice was obviously unreliable to keep steady or spit out an entire phrase, Gintoki snapped his mouth shut, trying to cradle the other two with no idea what to do.

"I knew this would happen," Umibouzu whispered, grabbing Otae's attention.

"We have to go _there_ for this?" She asked quietly.

"We have no other choice. These two might end up dying if we don't act."

Gintoki raised his head to frown at them.

"There's... a way to help them? Then why aren't we hurrying?!"

He quickly stood up and strapped Shinpachi to his front and Kagura to his back.

"Come on! Where is it? How far is it?"

Otae and Umibouzu hesitated slightly.

"It's about twenty minutes away through horse," Otae said, before Gintoki rushed out to get a horse from the stables.

"Oh dear, this might not end well."

_

Gintoki had his own horse while Umibouzu and Otae had the second one. They rushed through the woods, leaving a trail or frost and ice behind them.

The ice had even attracted attention itself.

"Why's there ice in spring?" A young boy with light brown hair stared at the backs of the three strangers before he hopped onto his reindeer companion and began to tail them.

_

"Please! Will you help us?"

Umibouzu had only called once before the rocks surrounding the group tumbled down to where they were standing.

Said rocks also rolled open to reveal stumpy creatures that stared in surprise at seeing the King and his "children" before them.

Then the chief of them rolled in front of the royal group.

Meanwhile, a brunet boy and his reindeer hid in the background watching the scene from behind a rock.

Or, at least, the boy had thought it was a rock.

The rock rolled open to reveal a creature with the face of a gorilla but still somewhat like his companions.

"A troll?" The boy said incredulously.

"Shush shush, I'm listening," muttered the Gorilla.

"Oh."

The Gorilla stayed silent, glancing at the boy, before grinning and hugging him and his reindeer.

"Aw, you two are adorable, I'm gonna keep you."

_

"Was he born with this, or cursed?" Rasped the group's chief.

"Born," Gintoki said, having unstrapped the other two from him to lay them out in front of the chief, "Now will you help, troll hag? We don't have all day!"

"Calm down, permheaded brat. I'll see what I can do." The chief placed her stone hands onto the foreheads of the two uncinscious children, before a stream of memories flowed out of her hand, "It would be best that we remove any memory related to magic from their minds to keep them safe."

"But why the hell would that help?!" Gintoki hissed. The chief, Otose, frowned.

"They wouldn't have anything to further strain their minds regarding this incident. It would all feel like a dream to them." She turned to him, "The girl is okay for now, but I believe the boy's eyesight has weakened quite a bit, I'd recommend purchasing for him a pair of spectacles for that. Speaking of which, you are rather lucky it only hit the head. Hitting the heart would certainly have troubling consequences and more difficult cures."

Gintoki awkwardly shuffled slightly.

"... I know."

"Hm," Otose stared at him sadly before turning away from the group, "Well, then you're fine this time, brat."

 **Ouch. You know, I was never that good at jokes anyways. Japanese or not. Heck, I don't even fully understand most of the jokes I just put in here.**

 **Oh, and the story will be altered a bit to fit characters like Shinpachi in it. Maybe it's just me, but I honestly don't fully like the idea of an incomplete Yorozuya family, like one without Kagura or Shinpachi, or even Gintoki (which sucks because of how many times he ends up leaving [Movie 2, several anime arcs, etc.]). I hate the idea of leaving any out, you know? But I think Shinpachi's usually the one most left out in fanmade stuff** **, so you may end up seeing me spoil him a bit here with some "quality screentime."**

 **Plus I realize Ginko is also Gintoki's name during the genderbent arc when I actually used it from the word for ice. Oops. Man, maybe I should've just gone with genderbent Gintoki. Eh, but that would feel weird with the pronoun confusion and stuff. Oh well, just pretend this doesn't actually follow almost any story arc in the anime except for the small tweaks made for the purpose of portraying somewhat accurate relationships between characters. I have to keep true to at least a few things, right?**

 **Try and give a review before you leave too. Did I do this right? Was I supposed to add more dirty jokes? Is the rating right? Is OkiKagu attractive to the audience? Heads up, by the way, I have no idea how to write proper romance.**


	2. Departures Can Be Rather Emotional

**Ack, I still don't know if I'm doing this right. Ha, angst? Humor? What's that? Is it tasty?**

The next morning, two pairs of footsteps ran up to the door of Gintoki's room.

"Gin-chan! Play with us!" Kagura shouted while pounding hard on the door, "Or else we might break this door down, aru!"

"Yeah, Gin-san- Gintoki! Wait, Gin-kun? Gin-? Whatever. Yeah, permbrain!" Shinpachi said from behind Kagura and the poor abused door.

"Brats, go away. Gin-san's really sick right now," a surprisingly quiet voice spoke from the other side of the door, "He won't be able to handle you two for a while."

"What're you talkin' about? You were just fine yesterday!" Kagura yelled, still banging her fists on the door.

"Then I got a cold," the voice said, now muffled as though Gintoki was holding his nose, "Sorry, too sick to handle you guys. Bye bye."

"Damn it, Gin-chan!" Kagura slumped down on the other side of the door.

"Brat. Who even taught you such barbaric language?" Gintoki said, but didn't yell as he would have.

"You did, Gin-chan!"

"Kagura-chan, maybe Gin-saki really is sick, we should probably get him some soup," Shinpachi said, leaning down to face Kagura with his hands on his knees.

"Yeah, maybe we should, aru!" Kagura jumped right back up and started making her way to the kitchen, "I'll be right back, Gin-chan!"

Now left alone with Gintoki on the other side of the door, Shinpachi cleared his throat and adjusted his new glasses before speaking, "Gin-kun, are you okay? You sound sad."

Gintoki was silent before Shinpachi heard a sigh, "I have a cold from playing yesterday, just go away and help keep the demon brat from bothering me, Pattsuan. Think you can handle that?"

"... I guess if you say so."

"Good."

_Timeskip_

Now thirteen years old, Shinpachi had collected the clean laundry from one of the now very few maids of the palace. His eyes had become a rather nice shade of blue and his soul -glasses- were as dull as ever. Kagura was eating the kitchen again and he was still pretty distracted with his daydream of Kagura and him being considered fairies -- don't ask, -- with his eye color and those strange white hair strands she has.

He was passing by Gintoki's bedroom door when he heard what sounded like a muffled scream from inside.

Concerned, he knocked on the door.

"Gin- Gin-kun, are you alright?" He called. The scream hitched and silenced, before the sound of rushed footsteps and a crash was heard, "Ginto-"

"I'm- I- I'm... fine, Sh-inpachi. Just- jus' stubbed my toe on a rock- I me-mean, the table, don' worry 'bout it," came the shaky reply.

 _'His voice sounds hoarse.'_

"Well, if you say so. Just... tell me or Kagura-chan when you need anything, okay?" Shinpachi spoke quietly. The other was silent before he chuckled.

"Got it."

_

An eleven year old Kagura roared and leapt in front of Gintoki's door, slamming her hands on it mercilessly.

"Gin-chan! Get out and play with me! Pachi's being boring again, sayin' something about adult piss duties when he's grown up. But he's not that much richer or older than I am!" Kagura might obliterate the door at this rate, "So you have to play with us to cure him of his dull glasses-ness, aru!"

"It's prince, Kagura. Also, quit it or else you'll break down the door, and your baldy of a father and the female gorilla won't be happy with you," Gintoki muttered. Kagura stopped terrorizing the door, but slid down and leaned on it instead.

"Hey, Gin-chan. Why aren't you playing with us anymore? Is it because Shinpachi's a teen boy now? Are you worried he might get ahead of you anyways, aru?" Kagura asked.

"What on Earth are you implying?" Gintoki sighed, "Just go bother him for now. Gin-san's busy with projects and illnesses right now."

Kagura groaned loudly, "Ugh, but you always say that! Seriously, you were playing with us one year, then the next, you're not. Stop being so indecisive, curls-for-brains."

Hearing no retort, Kagura stood up and skipped away to go bother some poor dedicated servant, leaving Gintoki on the other side with only his thoughts and a freezing cold room.

_Timeskip_

Three years had passed, and the two children still hadn't been able to convince Gintoki to come out and spend time with them. But today was different. Today, the other two leading adults, Otae and Umibouzu, were going overseas to address some political issues going on between the two countries, so maybe during the meeting before departure, they could see the silver haired lazy ass and probably start a full conversation and play with him again, right?

"Where's Gin-chan?" Kagura asked after hugging the two, "Isn't he supposed to bid you guys goodbye too?"

"I'm afraid he might meet us right before the actual departure, Kagura-chan. It would be far too late for you two to see him." Otae tried putting a hand on their shoulders to console the two, but the air remained dejected.

It seems as though that wasn't actually the case.

"Well, I guess that only makes sense, huh? But goodbye, Ane-ue. I hope the meeting goes well," Shinpachi said, trying to brighten the overall mood in the room.

"See you, Shin-chan, Kagura-chan," Otae's voice fell to a low hush, "I hope you guys and Gin-san reunite happily soon."

Shinpachi and Kagura were quiet as Otae hugged them once more before leaving to prepare the ship.

It was a few months later that they were informed that Otae and Umibouzu's ship had sunk in a storm.

_

Shinpachi and Kagura were both wearing black mourning clothes and were solemnly making their way to Gintoki's door.

"Gin-kun," it was Shinpachi that spoke first, the words rolling slowly off his tongue, "Come on. You're the only other person here besides us with any personal royal connection. Kagura-chan and I can't run the country this young... you know?"

"Yeah, Gin-chan. The country would burn down with us ruling it," Kagura added.

They were met with only silence.

"... I see. We understand. But, we hoped you would, at least..." Shinpachi bit his lip, "P-play... with us... again."

Kagura sniffled.

"Oh well... it's okay. Come on, Kagura-chan, I'm sure Gin-sa- Gintoki-kun needs his time to mourn as well. We shouldn't bother him," Shinpachi said, making to leave.

"No," Kagura shook her head and sat down on the floor outside Gintoki's door.

"Huh?"

"No," Kagura said again, stubbornly, "I'm going to wait here then break Gin-chan's door in so that he'll stop being so stupid, aru."

"Kagura-chan, we have to give him space. He'll have to come out sooner or later, anyways," Shinpachi sighed, pulling her up, "Besides, dinner's almost ready and you know how Tama-san hates when we let the food get cold."

"Oh. Fine then! But when he does come out, I'll punch him to the roof!" She said, dashing to the dining table.

"Try not to kill him though," Shinpachi muttered, following after her.

Gintoki sat leaning on his door while staring at his hands. The ice was growing colder, he realized, but at least he feels warmer than before those two stopped by. He'll figure this out soon enough.

_Timeskip_

'Finally! Sixteen years old!'

That was the first thought that came to Shinpachi that morning, despite the fact his birthday had been about two weeks ago. Then he remembered that Gintoki was also being crowned King today, as he would be twenty one by now. That was the second thought that came to Shinpachi that morning.

 _'I guess I should've known this day would come sooner. Hard to imagine that the last time I saw him, he was around my age now. Oh, but it feels as though I'm forgetting somethin-'_

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the clock.

"I OVERSLEPT!!! AND HOLD ON, DON'T WE HAVE SERVANTS TO WAKE US!?!?"

_

Kagura was happily tying her hair into buns when she heard Shinpachi's shout.

"Jeez, are you just now trying to be the straight man again?" She muttered. She had actually been too excited to sleep the night before, so she had been ready since last night. Today was the day Gintoki would be King! That would mean he would actually have to be out and talk to people; to them, if he wants a proper coronation ceremony.

But glasses can be such a dunderhead with these things.

"OI, SHUT UP, GLASSES!" Kagura threw a hairbrush at his door across from her room, which actually ended up smashing through the door, in case you were wondering.

"AIEEE! KAGURA-CHAN!"

Strange, they both felt as though they should be singing an annoyingly catchy song right now.

"Kagura! You were supposed to wake me up sooner! Now I'll have to rush out with toast in my mouth again." Shinpachi exited from his door that now had a hole in it, dressed up in formal party wear.

"Not my fault you wouldn't get up, aru."

"Ugh, come on, Kagura-chan! The gates are probably open by now! We can go outside!" Kagura's face brightened with the realization and they both raced to the entrance.

_

Gintoki watched through the window of the third floor as Shinpachi and Kagura ran outside and started chasing each other with a sad smile on his face.

"Looking at it all like this, all of this avoiding stuff does honestly feel rather stupid. But... I don't think I can come up with a better way to handle this mess," he sighed as he watched Shinpachi fall into a boat, "I'm sure it's only a bit longer, anyways."

He turned away and dressed in a black jacket and a white kimono, pouting slightly when the guard outside the door loudly reminded him that he had to wear it properly. Man, wearing both sleeves of the kimono is one thing, but zipping the jacket all the way to his neck? Preposterous.

Gintoki noticed a pair of ornaments on a table in the room, and picked it up without any handwear. He knew he would have to hold his own without the gloves during the ceremony, but it was still going to be risky.

His thought was proven correct when he saw frost climbing around the areas his hands were touching, and he immediately replaced them on the table and pulled a pair of gloves back on.

 _'Oh well. I just have to get through today.'_

_

Meanwhile, Shinpachi had bumped into somebody near the docks and ended up falling into a boat. How graceful.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" The person asked.

"Um, yeah, I-" Shinpachi stopped when he looked up and saw a girl with purple looking hair styled in a side ponytail with her arm outstretched to him, falling in love with her at first sight, "Ah, I'm sorry."

"No, I am too, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I'm Princess Terakado Tsuu, of the Utau Isles, what's your name?" The girl, Terakado, said.

"I-I'm Prince Sakata Shinpachi... of Kabuki Edo, or, well, here... milady," Shinpachi slurred distractedly.

"Prince? Oh- my good Sir-" Terakado immediately bowed, but the sudden imbalance and movement toppled the boat, throwing Shinpachi onto the dock and Terakado underwater.

"Ah- Terakado-san!" Shinpachi made to reach his hand out, and pulled the girl when she grabbed it.

"I'm really sorry!" He bowed to her apologetically. Terakado smiled as she squeezed water out of her hair.

"No no, it's okay. I apologize for bumping into you, and for... every moment after."

Shinpachi was about to apologize again when he heard bells ringing.

"Ah- uh, the ceremony's starting. I'm sor- I have to go- I _really_ have to go- um... bye!" He quickly ran back to the palace.

Terakado chuckled softly and made her way to quickly redress.

_

Past the docks, a brown haired young man and a reindeer stood, munching on carrots from a bag, though the reindeer's share had a yellow white condiment all over them.

"Today's apparently the day a King for this place is crowned, Hijikata," the man said, gazing at the palace blankly while chewing, "'Bout time too, since I heard the past King and Queen sunk in a ship. Shame though, since they were pretty fun. They weren't even married too."

The reindeer, Hijikata, grunted in reply.

"Eh? What's that? You want to go swimming in the dock?" The man asked.

Hijikata made a sound of immediate denial.

"Okay, but we won't be able to attend the ceremony."

And with that, Hijikata ended up in the water along with his human.

_

The words droned out as Gintoki anxiously waited for the crowning part to end.

Then they told him to remove his gloves and hold those cursed items.

He stiffly turned to the crowd as they applauded him, and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw frost creeping around the items. After the final words were said, he immediately put them down and put his gloves on again. If only the frost would stop.

_

"Introducing King Gintoki of Kabuki Edo, Princess Kagura of Kabuki Edo, and Prince Shitpanchi-"

"IT'S SHINPACHI!"

"-Of Kabuki Edo."

Shinpachi and Kagura quickly ran up in front of the throne and stopped to face the crowd a few feet away from Gintoki.

As the party continued, Kagura and Shinpachi nervously shifted around as Gintoki watched them.

"Yo," Gintoki said after a while.

The other two glanced up startled to stare at him.

"Yo- um, hi?" Shinpachi squeaked out. Kagura, on the other hand, greeted him by punching him in the arm.

"We haven't seen you in almost five years and the first thing you say is 'yo,' aru?" She said. Gintoki turned away.

"Ow, um, you two have grown since I last saw you," he muttered, holding his arm, "Sorta."

"And you've hardly changed at all, Gin-sa- I mean, Gintoki," Shinpachi said, the conversation sliding much easier than he was expecting.

But before Gintoki could reply, a long haired man walked up to him and bowed.

"I am Katsura, the Duke of Joui. It has been a while, Gintoki," he said.

Gintoki looked surprised at that. Hopefully, he wouldn't mention anything stupid.

"Oh, Zura. I didn't know you were attending."

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura," Katsura glanced at the other two who were staring at him, "Aren't those the two toddlers I met before?"

"Yeah," Gintoki replied.

"... I see. Well, might I interest one of you three to a dance?" Katsura held out his hand.

"Ah, I don't dance," was Gintoki's immediate answer.

"I'm already meeting with someone," Shinpachi said monotonously.

"And I'll stuff a booger down your throat," said Kagura.

"Oh... Okay... I'll just go dance with Elizabeth then!" Katsura turned and dashed away, dramatically choking out sobs from the triple set rejection.

"Ah, Shinpachi, are you actually meeting with anyone even though you know nobody, aru?" Kagura asked.

"I bumped into her at the docks and fell into a boat before, she said she was the princess of the Utau Isles, so I'm sure she came all this way to attend Gintoki's coronation ceremony like Katsura-san did," the glasses answered.

"Don't think that just meeting and talking to a girl is going to get you graduated from your rank of cherry boy, glasses," Kagura mumbled, her face stuffed with chocolates from the table nearby, "Besides, I'm sure Gin-chan won't like that you're trying to leave the nest so desperately like that, Shinpachi."

"I mean, that would be if he's still fully our Gin-san..." Shinpachi whispered under his breath, "Besides... I still lo-"

A loud crash resonated throughout the room.

Everybody quickly turned their attention to a man with his eyes closed behind sunglasses standing above a certain long haired man while holding a dirty blade in his hand.

"It seems as though I'm interrupting a small gathering here, pardon the intrusion. I came for His Highness today, but this gentleman here started a fight with me," the man said.

The temperature in the room dropped drastically, surprising the crowd as Gintoki swiftly made his way towards the unwanted guest.

"I don't recall extending such an invitation to your country, much less from one of your rank," Gintoki spoke coldly, "Leave."

"Oh? My, how rude of me. It seems as though I forgot to give you the message," the man turned his head to the two in front of the throne watching warily.

"But you see..."

He gripped the hilt of his blade.

"My leader told me..."

He started dashing towards the two.

"TO GET RID OF YOU ALL-"

His shout was cut short as Shinpachi and Kagura opened their eyes to be met with ice.

Gintoki had his bare hand stretched out, and the man who was just earlier trying to kill them... was now frozen solid.

Next thing they knew, Gintoki had walked over and slashed the offending frozen shoulder of the man, effectively disarming him (get it?) without a drop of blood.

The silver haired king smiled somberly to the pair's shocked expressions.

"I'm sorry."

Before taking off with several guards on his trail.

Shinpachi and Kagura took a moment to process what had just happened, before racing and trying to catch up with Gintoki.

They had gotten to the shore behind the palace, thinking that they had got him, but then he ran across the fjords, the water freezing with contact.

Shinpachi and Kagura tried running over the ice too, but slipped and fell before they could move a step forward.

"GIN-CHAN!"

"GINTOKI!"

_

 _'This was stupid. This was stupid. This was stupid. How could I have been so stupid? I'm sure those two would've been able to beat him up too, and if not that much, Kagura could probably have punched the bastard to space. But no, I had to go and show off the thing that took away years of time I could've spent with them but instead spent it locked in a frozen ass room just because I'm so damn dramatically impulsive. I didn't even check if Zura was still alive! Now I'm going to worry over everything and regret things and ugh, what an idiot.'_

Gintoki frowned uncomfortably while hiking up a snowy mountain. Wow, that would make a good setting for a song break. But he has no room to dwell on that. He still had no idea what he was going to do about hunger up here, unless snow was considered a whole meal. And then shelter-

Wait, if he can use ice for anything...

_

"What!?"

Shinpachi and Kagura stood straight in front of Katsura's recovery bed, the man only having minor injuries thanks to the armor underneath his clothes. As relieving as that was, there was still the problem of a lost, and apparently magical, king at hand.

The other two had just finished declaring their intention of following after and retrieving Gintoki to Katsura, whom of which was in the middle of trying to talk the two out of it and have the soldiers go out instead.

"It's dangerous for you guys. You should know that Gintoki would have my head if I just let you two wander off into the mountains or something. Just stay here and order a division or two of your military force to go after him. Or not, he'll probably wander back home when he gets hungry," Katsura stated. Shinpachi groaned quietly.

"Gintoki isn't a dog, Katsura-san," was his half-assed attempt of logical reaction to this, "Besides, it's our fault we let our guard down when Gintoki approached that man. We had assumed there wouldn't be any consequences to him protecting us, even though Kagura-chan could've singlehandedly finished that guy off. I didn't even try to move either. We were the reason he had to hide and then expose himself, so we should be the ones to take him back."

"Yeah, aru! Gin-chan doesn't have any reason to be scared anyways! He hasn't really broken any laws, except for spreading snow everywhere in August, but it's fine! Once we get him back, he'll take the winter away, aru!" Kagura chimed in, twirling her umbrella.

Katsura silently stared at them, searching for any doubts they had in their words. But after finding none, he sighed and handed Shinpachi a sheathed katana.

"Okay, you two, just don't tell him that I complied with your departure. You'll probably need a weapon for self defense out there as well, since there are wolves and a group of hostile people out there. I guess since I'm your closest trading partner, I'll take care of things here while you guys are gone. Oh, and good luck."

Shinpachi and Kagura smiled, thanked the man, and left immediately for the mountains.

In their rush, they didn't even notice the sinister figure in the crowd whispering to two of his henchman when they left.

 **I'm sorry, Otsuu-chan, I made it almost look like you were casted as the villain.**


	3. Bad Exchanges in Alleyways Are Overrated

Gintoki stood on a frozen balcony in a tower of ice with a grin on his face.

 _'I can let it all out here! This is amazing!_ _I don't need to wear my clothes right or stick my hair down here! I don't think I even need to wear clothes at all here!'_

But then, Gintoki frowned.

 _'I don't know what I'm doing now though. Those two brats can't run a kingdom. Oh, but going back would mean having to hold this shitty blizzard with me again, and I don't really think that would end well... Agh, what to do?'_

The man walked back inside the tower and lied down on a bed of snow in the corner to think. Should he go back? But wouldn't that mean a meeting with the officers or something? Possible de-crowning? That's a thing, right? Or, even worse...

Gintoki's features grew even more dim.

What if Kagura and Shinpachi start hating him for hiding all of this?

* * *

"Kagura-chan, a sh-sh-shop!"

Shinpachi and Kagura had honestly forgotten they were still wearing summer formal garments when they had left for a snowy mountain, so they had been shivering with fidgety teeth the whole way to this shop they've found.

A possible place for warmer wear and food.

"Fire!" Kagura shouted before tackling the glasses before jumping up while he tumbled into a stream of water, "Thank Booty!"

"It's Bu-Bu-B-Buddha, you jerk!" Shinpachi said, shivering even more. He sneezed, "Ack, we should really go inside before we get even mo-more sick."

But right when they both got to the step near the entrance, Shinpachi stopped.

"Hm? What's wrong, glasses?" Kagura asked, already at the door, "Did your teeth freeze off or something?"

"No," he glanced up at her, sweatdropping, "My hakama is frozen though."

"Jeez, Shinpachi, be more responsible with your clothes," Kagura carried him up the small step.

"It's yo-your fault for push-shing me into the water an-anyways!" Shinpachi tried speaking inbetween teeth chatters.

"Whatever. The sign also says this place's got a sauna. Maybe it could melt you and your clothes in there, aru," the China girl stepped through the door, "Customers in!"

"Customers are actually here? In this weather?" A man(?) dressed in drag shook his (her?) head, "Well, help yourselves then. The sauna is 40% off today because of the weather."

"Um, do-do you have any winter clo-clothes?"

"That would be in the winter department."

Shinpachi and Kagura picked out thicker clothes before Kagura remembered what they were here for.

"By the way, old geezer, have you seen an idiot with a silver perm 'round here, aru?" She asked, "We're sorta lookin' for him."

The cashier didn't miss a beat to shake their head.

"The only weird crazies that have come around here are you two."

The door whooshed open to reveal a snow and frost covered man at its entrance.

"Make that three then."

"Carrots..." the man groaned out to the cashier, "and... mayonnaise..."

The cashier nodded like this was a regular occurence and got said items in front of the man.

"That will be 1500 please," they said.

"Make it 1000."

"We can't lower it anymore, sir."

"Put it on their bill then," the man gestured to the two watching the exchange, "I'm their brother."

"You asshole! We're not paying for your crap! Besides, I don't even have some stupid sadistic-looking no-glasses small-*ed brother like you, aru! Take that back, bastard!" Kagura tried to lunge at the man, but Shinpachi held her back around her waist.

"Kagura-chan, calm down! We don't want the rating to go up anymore just because of your mouth!" Shinpachi sneezed again, "Wait, actually..."

He glanced up at the man.

"Have you seen a man with a silver perm head lately?" He asked. Kagura stopped struggling out of curiosity.

The other man took off his frozen hat to reveal light, boring styled, brown hair and rose an eyebrow.

"Silver perm? Do you mean the king of Kabuki Edo?" He asked. Shinpachi nodded his head hopefully, "No, not really. Hijikata-san and I were planning on visiting the guy's crowning ceremony for snacks, but Hijikata-san wanted to go swimming instead. Oh, but I would assume he has ran off into the mountains, huh?"

Shinpachi and Kagura looked slightly disappointed, before Shinpachi spoke again, "Who's Hijikata-san? Is he a friend of yours? Can he tell us if he knows where our br- the King is?"

"Hm, you know, you're gonna need more than simple manners to get me to help you," the man sneered. Shinpachi dropped a small bag of coins onto the forgotten cashier's table.

"I'll pay for your things and our own if you help u-"

"I'm Okita Sougo, and you're Prince and Princess Kagura and Shitpanchi, right?" Sougo immediately replied. Kagura glared.

"Yes. We are they, aru," she slowly spoke.

"You guys are jerks! It's Shinpachi! Prince Shin-pachi, damn it!" Glasses sneezed, "Anyways, are we able to carry this conversation into the sauna? Oh wait, but Kagura-chan's a girl..."

"Oh ho! Pattsuan can't handle seeing such a pretty lady butt naked? What a cherry boy. Bwuh-ha-ha-ha!" Kagura grinned mockingly at him. Shinpachi glared weakly at her, his nose definitely not being his buddy in this shituation.

"I'm serious, Kagura-chan! I- ah- ACKSHOO! I-I don't think my su- sickness is getting better with this-ss," his eyes were getting puffy now as his nose dripped sticky mucus down to his blue lips, where its trip grew slower, and into his ice cold-

"OKAY, WE GET IT! CAN WE PLEASE JUST GET ME- ME TO SOMEPLACE WARM!?"

* * *

"Okay, we'll need to prepare extra firewood here, guys! There is warm food in the castle's dining area, so feel free to stuff yourself after you've done your fair share!"

Katsura stood atop the rim of a fountain, barking out orders. As his injuries hadn't been too severe, the medical station let him off with some bandages and disinfectant, so he had taken charge of the land while the last three people of royal relations were absent.

While Katsura was wondering where his beloved Elizabeth was, a girl with a sidetail jogged up to him.

"Excuse me, Katsura sir, what exactly happened out here - Pig crap?" She asked.

"What? Oh. His Highness had made a scene here and his... the Prince and Princess went out to look for him. Why? What's the matter, miss?" The wig replied.

"Oh, I see. My name is Terakado Tsuu. I was meant to meet up with the Prince with glasses at the coronation ceremony, but I had gotten caught up in family reunions and stuff when my father came back from overseas - Mama's bad disc," Terakado answered.

"I-is that so?" Katsura cleared his throat, "Milady, I believe that I have a small question for you first, if you don't mind..."

"Hm? What is it - High taxes?"

"Have you always talked like this?"

* * *

"Hahhh..." Shinpachi happily exhaled. He was finally half naked in a hot and steamy room for once!

"Don't think just that will get you further along the ranks, Prince," Sougo commented from beside him.

"Oh, shut up about that already, will you!?" Shinpachi groaned, "A glasses could dream, you know."

"Ah, so you admit that the only valuable trait your character has is your glasses, huh?" Sougo replied.

"I'm still the main character though..." Shinpachi grumbled, "But when are you going to tell me where the King is?"

"Still, it was pretty cruel to tell Princess Brute to stay outside while we're relaxing in here," Sougo said boredly.

"Oi, you're just avoiding the question now, aren't you?" Said the Glasses.

"Sakata-sama went off to the mountains, kiddo. You guys aren't gonna get to him for a while, so why not just go back to the palace where you can get all warmed up with soups and blankets, huh?" Sougo glanced at the other. The Glasses was staring down with a strange expression on his face.

"Because... Gintoki-kun is still a part of our family, and, as lazy as he usually is, he can't abandon that duty this time," Shinpachi spoke with a firm and determined tone as he gazed back up to see a slightly smirking Sougo in front of him.

"Taking back a lazy, work-shirking, King, huh?" The brunet relaxed and casually laid back as he continued, "Fine then. You should tell your feisty little sister out there that we should be leaving by early morning tomorrow. Hijikata needs his meal before we head out."

"Really? So you're taking us to him?" Shinpachi asked, almost excitedly.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

 _'I should've brought a book or something,'_ Gintoki thought while munching on an ice bowl of snow. Thank God it wasn't yellow, at least.

His mind began to shift back to his more recent bad decisions as of late and he let out a deep sigh. He did not want for the brats to hate him, but he was doing this to protect them, right? That must be the reason why he is sitting here and wasting away with a low diet of frozen water for every meal. That had to be the reason. Why was he depriving them and himself of a connection again? Of love and affection? Why is he doing this? It could not be for no reason. Surely, it was to protect his loved ones...

Right?

The silver-haired man sighed once more as he chewed numbly on his meal of ice.

* * *

The three adolescents stood before an angry-looking reindeer. Two stared with wide eyes of surprise and confusion, while the other only threw the ceramic pot of mayonnaise in front of the creature. Shinpachi turned to Sougo with blatant disgust when they realized that the carrots had been meant for the brunet, and the mayonnaise...was apparently being enjoyed by the reindeer.

"Um, Okita-san," Shinpachi started, "Is this really Hijikata-san?"

Sougo hummed and nodded as he bit off a piece of a carrot. Kagura remained staring in awe of the large creature as it ate.

"Oh..." Glasses continued, "But from how you had described him...I thought he was a human..."

The brunet looked incredulous as he gaped at the other.

"I didn't know you even had it in you, Glasses." He stated in mock surprise, "To think that you believe only a _person_ can be a jerk the way Hijikata-san is! Shame on you."

Shinpachi held a blank gaze for a while, debating whether he should make a retort. Deciding that the conversation wasn't worth the effort, he shook his head and switched topics.

"So..." he hesitantly began, "You really know for sure that...the _king..._ is up there in the mountains, right?"

Sougo barely glanced at him as the young man crunched on his carrot.

"Of course," he replied, "It's not my style to lie to a couple of poor kids looking to find their lost guardian, after all."

How unconvincing, was what ran through Shinpachi's mind as he wondered if they should really be trusting the brunet. Kagura, on the other hand, was having the time of her life getting to meet a giant animal for the first time. She laughed as she nuzzled up against the giant reindeer.

"Silly reindeer!" She giggled, "Mayonnaise isn't a good diet! You should be eating these instead!"

She snatched the half-eaten carrot from Sougo's hands and, with an unintentional show of vigor, shoved it into the reindeer's mouth. Startled from the sudden and violent action, Hijikata yelped and blindly scrambled around and eventually ended up seated on Sougo's chest, suffocating the man.

"Anyways," Shinpachi said, half exasperated and half amusedly, "We should get going now, guys."

Kagura continued laughing as a choked grunt came out from underneath Hijikata.

"Stupid sadist."

* * *

Meanwhile, Katsura continued to manage the town in the king's wake, barking out orders and helping folks to the castle halls for supplies against the unexpected winter. Terakado was handling the provision and care for the firewood. Everybody was busy running around for shelter and supplies to notice the sinister activity happening just in front of one of the town's udon stands.

"His Majesty has been separated from his kingdom and, by extension, his primal source of protection," a mystery man spoke, "After that fiasco in the main hall earlier, it is probably safe to assume that the idiot will be trying to avoid any more deaths by his hand."

"How do you know that, my lord?" Another male voice monotoned.

"Moron! Of course he knows! His brain isn't as dead as yours seems to be!" Now a female voice. Great. The whole gang.

The first voice ignored the third as he chuckled menacingly.

"I have known him since we were young," he says, "I know how weak that perm is for something as silly as a moral compass. However, it has been a while since we saw each other face to face."

"Perhaps we should pay him a visit."


End file.
